I had the chance to spend some time last week with Lord David Puttnam, chair of our Open Education Challenge jury. Lord Puttnam is one of the most fascinating people you could ever hope to meet. He spent thirty years producing some of the best films of our lives, and then abruptly reinvented himself as an education expert. As education itself is also in a phase of reinvention, it is worth listening to him. (more…)
Are you a football fan? Did your national team qualify for the World Cup? If your country is not among the top performers in the PISA test, you are more likely to win the World Cup. Among the 10 top performers, only four made it to Brazil (South Korea, Japan, Switzerland and the Netherlands) and only two qualified for the second round (Switzerland and the Netherlands). (more…)
Boosting innovation in education was one of the main objectives of the first Erasmus+ call for proposals that has just been published.
But what do we mean by innovation in education? And what are the keys to making innovation in education possible?
Innovation in education is often considered as the development of curricula that will provide students with “the knowledge and skills necessary for a knowledge and entrepreneurial society.” This is the core of the Knowledge Triangle designed by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology).
The PISA results released last week (see my last entry) tell us about the urgent need to transform our education systems in most European countries.
We must now decide whether this much needed innovation can be brought about from inside the system, or if it must be the result of a “disruptive” process led by committed individuals and “education entrepreneurs” from all over Europe.
My conviction is that education practitioners, technology geeks and web entrepreneurs will be determinant to change. They have the ability and willingness to invent tools, content and devices that will benefit learners and trainers, alongside students and teachers. For the first time, technology seems robust and user-friendly enough to enable real innovation in the classroom.
But what kind of innovations are desirable, and for what kind of learning?
Why do we want innovation in education? What do we want to transform? Which changes do we want to achieve? What visionary practices can innovators bring for the future of education?
Photo by Xin Li 88
Youth unemployment is one of the most serious challenges we face. In Spain, where I live, more than 50% of young people are unemployed. More than 32% are early school leavers. More than 25% live below the poverty line. The threat of a lost generation is much more acute than the risk of the Spanish banking system collapsing.